


Someone Like Us

by serenelystrange



Category: Leverage
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different Powers, Alternate Universe - Magic, F/M, Humor, Kinda, Light Angst, M/M, Multi, Mutant Powers, Psychic Abilities, Superheroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:26:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29671392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenelystrange/pseuds/serenelystrange
Summary: Eliot thinks he's going crazy when his hookup buddy is quite literally vanishing before his eyes. The truth turns out to be much more interesting!A little magic/mutant/undefined powers AU, because why not!For benjaminrussell- Thank you for participating in the Leverage Secret Santa Exchange this year!
Relationships: Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer
Comments: 8
Kudos: 19
Collections: Leverage Secret Santa Exchange (Mod Gifts)





	Someone Like Us

**Author's Note:**

  * For [benjaminrussell](https://archiveofourown.org/users/benjaminrussell/gifts).



Eliot notices it the third time they hook up, and his gut tells him that it’s definitely more than just a trick of the light or his tired eyes.

“How are you doing that?” he asks, peering over at Parker, who is sprawled out beside him, cooling down.

“Doing what?” she asks, not bothering to open her eyes yet.

Eliot sits up in a huff, sure that she’s just fucking with him, but she stays still and calm where she is.

“Vanishing!” he exclaims. “You’re like…flickering or something!”

Parker’s eyes do open at that, slowly and cautiously as she takes in Eliot’s expression and body language.

“Flickering?” she asks, moving to sit up and pulling the top sheet up with her to wrap around her body over her breasts.

She’s looking at Eliot with wary eyes, and he’s not sure if it’s because he’s found her out or if it’s because she genuinely has no idea what he’s talking about. He reaches out and grabs her forearm gently, feeling and seeing it solid beneath his fingertips. He looks up at Parker again to see her eyes widening with growing concern.

“I swear,” he says quietly, “you were there and then you…weren’t.”

“I haven’t left this bed,” Parker says, still looking at Eliot like he’s gone mad.

“I could still feel you,” Eliot says, realizing that it’s true. “I could feel you the whole time, but it was like you were invisible all of the sudden.”

Parker frowns and pulls her arm away from Eliot’s hand defensively.

“That’s impossible,” she says. “Maybe you just need glasses.”

“I wear contacts,” Eliot says, now sounding more curious than anything.

“Oh,” Parker says, unsure of how to proceed. “I didn’t know that.”

“It’s not like we really hang out,” Eliot says, shrugging it off with ease.

Parker nods in acknowledgement, still lost in thought.

“I thought I was imagining it,” she says finally, looking up at Eliot from where she had been staring at her clenched hands.

“You don’t know when you’re doing it?” Eliot asks, staring at her in open wonder now.

Parker shakes her head, relaxing slightly now that she’s pretty sure Eliot isn’t going to freak out.

“It only seems to happen when I’m really upset or really happy, or…” she trails off, blushing slightly.

“Or coming?” Eliot guesses, just barely managing to keep the smug smirk off of his face.

“Shut up,” Parker grumbles, turning her head to hide her amused smile.

Eliot shuts up and all at once realizes that he’s still very naked. He pulls up the blanket from where they’d tossed it on the floor and drapes it over his lap.

“So,” he says to Parker, “you’re probably not going to believe this, but…”

Parker tilts her head at him in curiosity.

“I’m like you,” he says. “Or you’re like us. Kind of, anyway.”

“You go invisible too?” Parker asks, eyes lighting up with surprise.

“Not exactly,” Eliot says, looking around the room and frowning with the realization that nothing in Parker’s Spartan bedroom will work for demonstration. 

“I have someone you should meet,” he says instead, getting up to find his clothes and get dressed.

“Who?” Parker asks, warily.

Eliot grins.

“Someone like us.”

“You don’t usually bring extras to our booty calls,” Hardison says when Eliot shows up on his doorstep at 2AM with Parker beside him. He raises his eyebrows in amusement as he takes in the sight of the pair. “But I mean, excellent choice,” he adds, smiling at Parker kindly.

Eliot rolls his eyes.

“This isn’t a hookup,” he says. “This is about…work.”

“Who’s this, then?” Hardison asks, stepping back and straightening up to his impressive full height.

“Parker, Hardison,” he introduces, “Hardison, Parker.”

Hardison gives Eliot a dubious stare, but holds out his hand for Parker to shake anyway. She does and he gasps in surprise as his mind is flooded with a series of images and emotions.

“Well, shit,” he says, pulling back his hand gently and eyeing Parker’s worried expression. “You two better come in.”

“What was that?” Parker asks once they’re all standing in Hardison’s living room awkwardly.

Hardison hums in response and stares at her with interest. “I’m more interested in what _that_ was,” he says, gesturing to her hand where they had touched. “I’ve never felt anything like it.”

“Hardison can read people, basically,” Eliot explains.

“In layman’s terms,” Hardison agrees. “If I concentrate, I can usually get a general idea of how someone is feeling and see a few recent memories, stuff like that. But that… that was intense.”

“Sorry?” Parker says, giving him a crooked smile and shrugging.

“Don’t be,” Hardison says. “That was amazing. It was like your powers were calling out, begging to be acknowledged.”

“Powers?” Parker says faintly. “Is that what you think is wrong with me?”

“It’s not wrong,” Hardison says, “it’s remarkable. I thought me and El were the only ones in the whole damn state.”

“You think I’m like you?” Parker asks, glancing between Hardison and Eliot. “Like both of you?”

Eliot nods and grins, moving over to stand by a heavy looking bronze statue of a giraffe that Parker hadn’t noticed in all her anxious anticipation. It’s not life size but it is tall, a few feet over Eliot’s head, and weighed down by solid marble bases on all four feet.

“Come here,” Eliot says, “try to move this.”

Parker goes, because the night has already been so weird that she might as well see where this is all going. She takes turns pulling and pushing at the statue, giving it all her not-inconsiderable strength, but the statue doesn’t so much as budge. She finally gives up and pulls back, shooting Eliot a glare to get on with what his point.

“Just needed to make sure you knew it wasn’t a trick,” Eliot explains before taking a step back himself.

Parker watches with growing interest as Eliot closes his eyes and gives himself a little shake before going completely still, seeming to be counting his own breaths if the silent moving of his lips are any indication. He looks up at her a moment later and Parker gasps as her gaze meets her. His normally soft blue eyes are shining a bright white, solid and devoid of any trace of retina or pupil.

Before she can ask, Eliot moves back to the statue and sticks both hands under the tall belly of the giraffe, before lifting the whole damn thing over his head like it weighs no more than pillow. He looks over at Parker with his unnerving white eyes and gives her a grin.

“Holy shit,” she says, and very nearly passes out, only being stopped by Hardison suddenly coming up behind her to catch her before she can fall.

“I passed out first time I saw it, too,” Hardison whispers to her genially. “You get used to it.”

Parker is still stunned into silence, so she stays quiet and grounds herself by feeling the solid warmth of Hardison’s arms steadying her hips until she doesn’t feel quite so dizzy.

Eliot slowly rests the statue back to ground, mindful of damaging Hardison’s floor.

“Believe me now?” he asks, blinking as the light in his eyes fade and they return to the normal blue.

“Holy shit,” Parker repeats, mildly.

Behind her, Hardison snorts in laughter.

The next few weeks of Parker’s life feel like some sort of 80’s movie montage. The days blur and blend into training with Hardison and Eliot to try and control her ability. She finds herself growing closer to Hardison, and missing Eliot, who had decided they shouldn’t mess around while they were focused on training. Hardison is an excellent sparring partner though, running around with her to get her heart rate up, and then winding down with her to see if she can go invisible without having to be thrumming with adrenalin. There are times she swears Hardison looks like he’s going to kiss her, but he always pulls away at the last minute, and she’s not going to push her luck when she feels so close to being able to control her mysterious power.

The rest of the time feels fake in comparison. She goes to work at the grocery store and bags items with a customer service smile pasted on her face. She eats and cleans and showers like normal, and she sleeps in her own bed, alone. But every moment now feels lacking, somehow. Like she’s going through the motions because she has to, but is thrumming with energy inside that is dying to be released.

“I think you’ve got it,” Hardison says one afternoon when they’re all at his apartment.

Parker looks up at him and then down at herself, where the couch pillow she’s holding appears to be floating in mid-air.

“I’ve got it!” she says, jumping in place and grinning at Hardison and Eliot even though she knows they can’t see her.

With that in mind, Parker launches herself at Hardison and wraps her arms around him a tight hug. He startles at first and staggers back, but hugs her close a moment later. A shock of electricity runs through her at the contact, and she blushes hotly, glad that he can’t see her face.

“Don’t I get a hug?” Eliot says to her general vicinity, holding out his arms.

Parker laughs and wiggles out of Hardison’s arms to hug Eliot. He squeezes her, hands slipping down her back to graze over her backside.

“I don’t even need to be able to see her to know you’re grabbing her ass,” Hardison says, rolling his eyes.

“It’s fine,” Parker says, before dropping her voice to a whisper in Eliot’s ear. “I’ve missed you,” she admits.

“Missed you,” Eliot replies, just as softly.

Parker turns around in his arms and leans gently against his chest as she slowly becomes visible again and grins over at Hardison, who is watching them fondly.

“How do you two feel about unconventional relationships?” she asks, smirking when Eliot’s hands clench around her waist.

Hardison’s eyes widen in surprise at first, and then wider still in the arousal Parker recognizes from their training sessions.

“Pos-i-tiv-ely,” he says, voice rough.

“I’m a fan,” Eliot agrees from behind her. “Especially if it’s with you two.”

“Sap,” Parker teases, rubbing her cheek against Eliot’s affectionately.

“You should kiss me now,” she says to Hardison, holding out one arm to him so he can take her hand.

He does.

Much later, they’re freshly showered and sprawled out on Hardison’s absurdly large bed wearing sleep clothes, exhausted from all the good things of the day.

“You know,” Eliot says. “We might not know where these abilities comes from..”

“Magic,” Parker supplies.

“Science, probably,” Hardison says.

“Whatever,” Eliot waves the answers off. “What I’m saying is that we don’t know where these abilities comes from, but we know what we can do with them now, and we should probably decide what we want to do about that.”

“I could totally rob a bank,” Parker says with delight. “They’d never see me!”

Eliot groans and Hardison laughs.

“Hell yeah, you could,” Hardison says, bumping Parker’s fist with his own.

“But you shouldn’t,” Eliot says.

“What if it was to help people who needed it?” Parker asks.

“Ooh, my baby’s gonna be an anti-hero!” Hardison hoots. “This is the best day ever.”

“ _Our_ baby,” Eliot drawls wryly, glowering at them with a faux-hurt expression.

“I’m a full grown woman,” Parker says, rolling her eyes.

“Honey?” Hardison offers.

“Darlin’?” Eliot asks.

“Sugar pie?” Hardison says, snickering.

“I hate you both,” Parker says, sighing.

Neither of them take offense, judging by the satisfied smiles on both of their faces.

“We could do it,” Hardison says after a moment. “Help people, I mean.”

“Yeah?” Eliot asks, contemplating it.

“Definitely,” Parker says. “I really hate my job,” she adds.

“There are an awful lot of assholes in this country with too much money,” Eliot says. “And maybe we’re in just the right position to relieve them of some of it.”

“We could quit our shitty jobs,” Hardison says excitedly, “And get some justice for the people who get fucked over by the system!”

“Exactly!” Parker says. “We’d be saving people who feel helpless, or like they’re suffering under an enormous weight. We could provide…” she trails off, thinking for the right word.

“Assistance!” Eliot finishes her thought, before wrinkling his nose at how it doesn’t sound quite right out loud.

Parker laughs and shakes her head fondly. They have plenty of time to figure it out.

THE END


End file.
